A Tale of Pirates
by Solafan
Summary: Red takes on a quest to retrieve the daughter of a Shetland miner who has been kidnapped by sky pirates. However, not all is as it seems about the father, the daughter or the sky pirates.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Red!" A pink haired dog woman screeched in horror. "You haven't just bet all our money that you would win this quiz have you!"

Her disdain was being directed to a similarly furry creature, who was grinning from ear to ear, a bone hanging precariously from his mouth. The young dog man who had glossy blue eyes and long brown hair seemed as calm as still water. His short red cape fell just above his elbows, the collar turned up.

"Don't worry, Chocolat," he said to the terrified dog woman. "There is no way I can lose."

He raised a fist and grinned even brighter at the pink haired caninu who glared back.

"How can you possibly know that?" Chocolat screeched. "You're up against, Collie, no one knows more about Basset than him."

Red peered around at the old wooden ships that mostly made up the island of Basset. It had an odd archaic beauty to it, the old rotten ships towering into the crimson sky. Beautiful but also saddening that such vessels had once had such life but were now still and dormant. It's misty air seemed to whisper secrets of the past. Suddenly he wasn't so sure he could win against Collie after all.

"Listen quiz-"

"NO!" The quiz master shouted making everyone jump. "It's too late to back out now, I've already planned all the different colour shoes I'm going to buy with the money when you lose."

"Right…" Red said raising a furry eyebrow. "I guess there's no stopping now, let's get this thing started then."

"The question is this…" the quiz master spun around several times for effect before pointing a finger towards the crimson sky. "A long time ago in Basset there was a Battleship Fishing competition, and a ship was fished out called the Blue Star. Who was it who fished out the ship?"

"WHAAA?" Red exclaimed the bone slipping from his mouth. "That is such a random question!"

"What were you expecting?" The quiz master shrugged before spinning around three times and doing a star jump "I'm a random kind of guy."

"…" Red stared open mouthed.

"The answer is Reggie Benji," Collie said smiling.

"That is correct! Collie wins the quiz! Sorry Red or should I say green as you are probably full of jealousy at Collie's great win!"

The quiz master did three star jumps before counting out Red's rings and pocketing them.

"RED!" Chocolat screeched.

"Green!" The quiz master chuckled counting out Red's rings.

"Uh oh…" Red muttered as Chocolat stormed towards him.

Flicking her pink hair over one shoulder and grabbing Red by his left ear she dragged him back to their ship the Asmodeus. The bemused residents of Basset watched as Chocolat marched off in the direction of their ship pulling Red along with her.

"I'll earn the money back easy, a few Hunter's quests and we'll be on our way!" Red said defiantly when they were back on the ship.

"I really hope so, because we've got work to do, Red. Elh and Beluga are depending on us." Chocolat said. "Also until you've earned back the money I'm cutting your allowance to five rings a day."

"WHAA?" Red exclaimed. "That will barely get me a piece of bread!"

"Tough!" Chocolat said walking away.

"Ugh…" Red sunk down into one of the comfy cabin chairs and closed his eyes. What had seemed like a great way to win money at the time had turned into a disaster. Stretching out on the coach he began to slip into the dream world when a ringing sound disturbed his sleep and reluctantly he answered the call.

"Yep," he said yawning.

"Wake you up did I? Come to the quest broker in Shetland."

"Huh? Why? Who is this?"

The phone cut out.

_That's strange… _Red thought dragging a furry hand through his brown hair.

"Well, a quest is a quest!" he said grinning. "Hey Chocolat, our next destination is Shetland!"

When they arrived in the mining island of Shetland everyone was running about and muttering to themselves. One miner was so absentminded that he dropped his pickaxe on his foot. With painful consequences… after screaming his head off the Caninu (dog person) resumed running around aimlessly. One Shetland inhabitant was weeping silently to herself near the entrance to the mines.

"Odd…" Red muttered to himself.

He climbed onto his robot, Dahak, whose metallic surface was glimmering in the sun. When seated comfortably, Red rode Dahak pass the people to the quest broker who immediately called him over.

"Oh Red, I'm so glad that you've come. We need a Hunter desperately." The cat woman said her huge eyes shimmering with tears.

"What's happened?" Red asked.

"One of the miner's daughters have been kidnapped by nasty sky pirates. You have to get her back, Red!"

"I'll do my best," Red said clenching a gloved fist.

"So you'll accept the quest? The pay is 5000 rings."

"Those sky pirates will wish they'd never laid eyes on Shetland once they're done with me." Red said grinning.

"I knew you would help! Talk to the miner, he's drowning his sorrows with a pint of ale on Pickaxe Street."

"Sure thing,"

"Well then, good luck!"

Red and Dahak thundered down the streets until they reached Pickaxe where Red immediately knew which miner he had to speak to. All the miner's looked sombre but one in particular looked like his whole world had been destroyed. He was a chubby, dog man, with a fringe of black hair hiding his furry face. Climbing off of Dahak Red approached carefully.

"Hello? Um… are you the one whose daughter has been kidnapped?"

The miner raised his head and nodded sadly. "You must be the hunter who has taken up my request. Sit down and I will tell you everything."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Red jumped off of Dahak and slid into a seat opposite the distressed miner, whose eyes were heavy with tears. A patch of his shirt was soggy and his dungaree straps were dishevelled and slipping off of his furry shoulders. His ale glass was two thirds full but the strong stench coming from the caninu was evidence that he had had a lot more than one third of a glass.

"This caninu has seen better days…" Red muttered fishing around for a bone and slipping it into his mouth.

The mournful miner combed Red through with his eyes before turning back to his ale glass. "You must excuse me… Mr…"

"Red Savarin! And don't worry, if anyone can get your daughter back it's me."

"Yes, Flo did say you were a very accomplished hunter." The miner withdrew a tissue from his pocket and blew into it.

"… So your daughter…"

"Oh yes, sorry, well I was working down the mine as always so I wasn't there when they took her. A colleague of mine had been there when they swept down and… leaving only a note in her place."

"What did the note say?" Red asked leaning forward.

"If you want your daughter back bring 100 million rings to the Davren Islands." The miner sneezed into his tissue again.

Red whistled at the price. There was no way a miner could bring up that amount of rings, even if he worked for the rest of his life.

"If you want to know more speak to one of the miner's at the port. That is where she was taken."

"I'll get right on it! And don't worry, I'll have your daughter back and those sky pirates apologising before you can say furballs!"

"Furballs!" the miner said quickly his face lighting up. "Have you found her? Have you? Have you?"

_What the…?_

"No… It's just a figure a speech. It means I'm going to get her back quick as a wink."

The miner began to blink rapidly as if he was having some kind of fit, all the while asking whether Red had found her yet.

_What's wrong with this guy?_

"Uh… just forget I said anything." Red said scratching his head. "Just don't worry, I swear on my tail that I'll get her back."

"Thank you," the miner said bursting into tears again.

Not sure what to do to comfort the man, Red settled for a light tap on the shoulder before climbing back on Dahak and speeding to the port to find some miners who had seen the girl's disappearance.

The port in Shetland consisted of a wooden boardwalk where drills and ships were parked. Several miners were busy loading newly mined goods into ships to be taken all over the Shepherd Republic. They huffed as they worked, sweat dripping down their foreheads as they loaded cargo onto ships. The people of Shetland in general had calmed down a bit from when Red had first arrived but there was still an odd mood in the air. The girl who had been crying near the entrance of the mines had stopped crying and now settled for the odd sob once in a while. At the dock one of the numerous ships parked there was Red's ship the Asmodeus, its orangey paint job seemed to give the ship an almost blinding glow. Standing near to the ship was a tall thin miner who seemed to be having a quick break. He took a bottle from one of his huge pockets and slurped the liquid it contained greedily before pocketing it again.

"Salut!" Red said walking over to the miner who wiped his grubby hands into his overalls and offered it out for Red to shake.

"What can I do for you?" The tall thin caninu said.

"I was wondering if you could tell me about the recent kidnapping." Red said.

"Ah yes, it was awful…everyone is still running around like headless fish about it"

_Can fish even run when they do have a head? _Red thought.

"They parked right where that orange ship is parked now, a motley fearsome bunch, wearing red suits picked up the girl and threw her onto the ship. Then they hurried away leaving only a note."

"What did this ship look like?"

"A huge red ship with metal spikes attached to the wings. On the side it said, 'The Red Destroyer', I'm afraid that is all I can tell you. It was very quick."

"Thanks, for the information, now I'll know which ship is going to feel the wrath of Red."

When back on the Asmodeus Red filled Chocolat in on everything he had learned.

"Hmm," she pondered, screwing up her furry face in concentration. "Something isn't right here."

"I know, I mean fish don't have legs so how can they run?"

"Not that!" Chocolat snapped. "Why did they kidnap a miner's daughter? Why not the mayor or a celebrity, someone who would have such an enormous amount of money in which to pay the ransom?"

"I guess we'll ask them when I have them tied to the ceiling," Red grinned clenching his fist.

"Ugh boys…" Chocolat muttered. "Oh well, let's do it your way. Next step Davren Islands!"

Unlike the other islands in the Shepherd Republic, Davren was a collection of smaller islands instead of one huge one. It was also where air races took place, which meant the sound of an object whooshing through the air was never too far away.

As Red was about to step off of the Asmodeus Chocolat grabbed his blue sleeve.

"Please don't mess this up Red, I know how rash you can be," she said.

"I know, I know, if I mess up that's 5000 rings down the drain. Don't worry, I'll sneak onto the ship, get the girl and inevitably beat up some sky pirates along the way." Red smiled, "easy."

Removing Chocolat's paw gently and giving her pink hair a quick stroke he jumped onto Dahak and sped away towards 'The Red Destroyer'

"Be careful brother…" Chocolat whispered closing her eyes.

The closer Red got to the pirate ship, the bigger it seemed to get. It was a monster of a ship and had huge metal spikes attached to its wings just as the miner at Shetland port had described. It would definitely have no problem ripping the Asmodeus to shreds. Red gulped but there was no way he was getting to let the ship intimidate him. He looked around for some sort of entrance and noticed a few pirates were loading up. They were dressed in a bright red uniform, so shiny that it seemed to be emitting its own light. When they finished Red snuck in behind them and crouched Dahak behind some wooden boxes and listened.

"The captain's not going to be happy when he finds out that we left the girl on her own in the study."

"Well he can't expect us to be in two places at once! Both loading the ship and guarding the miner's daughter!"

"I'm just saying!"

"Well don't say, Dinkle! Let's grab a bite to eat before we go back and guard the girl."

"Don't you think we should just go back?"

"Who's going to try and get her? The miner? Stop being a scaredy crab."

Red waited as the sky pirates jogged away. When all was silent he got out from behind the boxes and marched Dahak from the loading bay into the next room. It was empty except for a patrol drone which focused on him as soon as he entered.

"I've been waiting to test out Dahak's new customisations!" Red grinned as a missile stormed his way.

Dahak grabbed it with ease and hurled it back on the drone which exploded on impact. Suddenly a deafening sound filled the air and Red grabbed his ears and grimaced.

"Arggghhh! What is that?" He groaned.

After an agonising minute the noise stopped leaving only the distant rumble of the ship's engine.

"What the furball was that?" Red muttered charging forward to the next door.

It didn't take him long to find out.

Two sky pirates stormed through the door in their drill based robots. Red recognised them as the two caninus who had been loading the ship up.

"So it's you who's set off the alarm!" One said pointing a finger at Red accusingly. "I thought Dinkle had set it off again."

"What are you doing on the Red Destroyer? Answer or prepared to be crushed!" The other pirate said.

"I don't take kindly to threats," Red said. "I'm here for the girl you've taken."

"No chance, mate. Dinkle let him taste your new drill!"

"Sure thing," the sky pirate grinned menacingly before advancing forward, his robot's drill becoming ever closer to Dahak's metal body.

"You guys have left me no choice," Red said grinning charging Dahak forward he grabbed the drill equipped robot and hurled it against the floor.

"Urgh…" Dinkle moaned.

"Want some more?" Red said grinning but before waiting for an answer he grabbed the robot again and spun it round and round until the world became a blur. When he finally let go the robot flew through the air and smashed against the wall. It exploded on impact, bits of metal flew threw the air and a bedraggled Dinkle crawled out of the chaos, his skin bruised and his fur matted with soot.

"You'll pay for that!" The other sky pirate screamed. "Time for you to taste our new upgrades."

"Well I guess your upgrade has to be better than those horrible red suits you wear!" Red said grinning cheekily.

"Why you? I'll have you know that these are the latest fashion of criminal wear in all of Shepherd! I'll show you…"

With a greedy flick of a switch the robot began to transform before Red's very eyes. Before he knew it one drill had become four and the robot had tripled in size, towering over Dahak considerably. The pirate beamed down at Red and laughed menacingly and suddenly Red was seriously regretting insulting the pirate's clothes.

"Nice upgrade…" he mumbled.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I knew you would like it," the pirate said giggling. "Anything you would like to apologise for before the T300BTZ smashes your silly long armed robot to bits?"

Red stared around him wildly. He couldn't just run pass it and carry on, the robot had grown so huge that it was completely blocking his path. He stared behind him where Dinkle was sitting rubbing his bruises. He could go back… Red shook his head. There was no way he was turning back now. He faced forward and put on a sorrowful face as if he was really scared and sorry but his eyes were gleaming.

"There is something that I would like to apologise for, sir," he mumbled.

"I'm all pointy ears!" The pirate said.

"I'd like to apologise for that fact that… you have to wear that horrible shiny red suit on a daily basis!" Red roared charging forward.

The pirate screamed in anger and the T300's metal arm swung down smashing into Dahak, knocking the machine back a few metres. Red groaned and rubbed his head but before he could even move the pirate was upon him. He felt light headed as the T300 dragged Dahak into the air and flung them into the wall will little effort. Things weren't going well.

"Swinging and throwing is your little thing anyway. Let me show you some real power!" The pirate said jabbing some buttons.

The stomach of the robot opened up to reveal a huge lazer gun which automatically pointed at Red who only just manoeuvred Dahak out of the way before a blast of blue shot out.

"Get him!" Dinkle jeered as Red dodged yet another laser blast. "He's right there just get him!"

"Shut up you fool! The little robot is quite nifty and I'm losing my power with all these lazer shots!" Soon enough the T300BTZ powered down after shooting seven unsuccessful shots.

"Now it's my turn…" Red said through gritted teeth.

Charging forward Dahak grabbed the T300 and began lifting it up.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and power up you stupid thing!" The pirate spluttered anxiously.

Soon Dahak had successfully lifted the robot up. Jumping into the air Dahah smashed the machine back down so hard that it bounced back up.

"Ah! Again!" Red said grinning as Dahak smashed the robot into the ground for the second time.

"Third time lucky!" Red sang as Dahak threw the T300 into the ground for the third time.

"Do something… Dinkle…" a voice croaked from the T300.

Dinkle nodded but instead of helping darted off to save himself.

"Where are you going you idiot?" The pirate screeched.

"No loyalty amongst thieves, eh?" Red said grinning but his grin soon slid from his face when he heard the sound of the T300 powering back up.

"Looks like the tides have turned," the pirate said making the T300 swoop up Dahak into its two massive hands.

"Put me down or you'll end up wishing you'd never been born. Though you probably already wish that seeing as you have to wear those ugly suits." Red growled as the T300 began to crush Dahak in its palms.

"Put you down or what?" The pirate said laughing horridly.

Red felt a sense of dread engulfing him but he wasn't going to let the pirate know that. The more the T300 squeezed the more cracks he heard from Dahak as his beloved robot's metal began to give way. And with every sound he felt like his own bones were breaking.

"I can't give up…" Red said grimacing. "Come on Dahak…"

He manoeuvred the robots arms so that it began to push the T300's palms away from itself. Even at full power Dahak was trembling with the effort.

"You can do it Dahak," Red muttered.

"Don't even try-" the pirate began but Dahak had already pushed the T300's hands quite a bit away. "Time to up the power myself!"

The T300 began to squeeze even harder in response to Dahak's efforts but Red wasn't going to give up. Putting the robot on automatic he crept out and began to push with the robot with all his strength.

"Come on… Dahak!" He said with every breathless push.

Red's face screwed up with the determination. His short red cape tore with the effort but he kept pushing. Finally the T300's grip loosened and Dahak and Red crashed to the ground.

"It's powered down again," the pirate said as if he hoped Red would be sympathetic and wait for it to power back up.

"Too bad," Red said grinning through his pain and fatigue.

Climbing back onto Dahak he charged at the T300 which was lifted into the air and smashed into the ground before being swung into the ceiling where it collided with the lights and electrics causing a thundering bang. The broken machine fell to the ground and the pirate crawled out. His shiny red suit was blackened and torn.

With a triumphant smile Red proceeded to the next room which happened to be the kitchen. The room contained several stoves and a huge fridge as well as a sign showing 'left to the study' and 'right to the control room'.

"That pirate had said the girl was in a study…hmm, left it is then" Red said.

He soon found himself in a small room containing a few shelves of books, a desk and a lamp. He climbed off of Dahak and took a book from the shelf and flicked through it wondering what it was that sky pirates actually read.

"How to be as menacing as possible," Red said reading a title of one of the chapters. "Figures."

Looking at the spines of the books on the shelves he found that most of the literature there was about how to be fearsome and menacing and what to spend your plunder on. Red shook his head disapprovingly at the content but suddenly something caught his eye. A paper was sticking out of one of the books on the shelf which was entitled 'How to make your guns seem bigger'. He slipped the paper out expecting tips on how to increase the size of weapons but was shocked to find that the page was about a different subject matter completely. It was about love. Specifically, how to tell the girl of your dreams that you love her.

"What the furball?" Red said perplexed but there was no time to investigate now, he had a quest to do.

Putting the page back into the place he'd found it he began to look around the room for the miner's daughter. It didn't take him long to find her seeing as the study wasn't that big. She was crouched against the wall reading a book. She was a short fair haired caninu with bright blue eyes not too much different from Red's own except her's were big and cute. She was dressed in a long white gown and Red was happy to see that the pirates seemed to be treating her well. She looked in no way distressed and was smiling faintly as she read the book. Her lips moving rapidly as if she was mouthing the words. As Red approached she looked up sharply.

"It's ok, don't be afraid I'm here to save you," he said smiling to reassure her.

Red didn't know what he was expecting when he finally managed to rescue the miner's daughter. A thank you perhaps? The girl to fall into his arms and proclaim him a hero? What did happen was not something that he had seen coming at all.

She screamed.

And she screamed.

And she screamed.

Her screams were so loud that they seem to rip through Red's soul let alone his ears. The alarm he heard earlier seemed like sweet music in comparison. The girl's voice was so loud an penetrating that Red would have been surprised if they didn't hear it back in Shetland.

"Stop! Stop that! I was sent by your father to save you!" Red said.

To his horror the girl only seemed to scream louder. He looked around him anxiously. There was no way that the pirates didn't hear that. The girl's voice was going to summon every pirate in the ship if she didn't stop.

"What are you doing? Shut up!" Red growled as the nice and easy approach wasn't working.

But she didn't shut up. The study door flung open as an army of pirates charged in. Red glanced to were he had parked Dahak but the pirates surrounded the robot in seconds. Shiny red suits seemed to be everywhere but Red was too shocked to make his usual cheeky comments about the pirates' choice of clothes. Finally the girl stopped screaming and the pirate that Red had defeated earlier stepped forward grinning happily.

"Looks like it's the end of the road Red," he said rubbing his hands together.

"Tie him up and take him to the ship lock up!" Dinkle said.

Five pirates in red suits descended on Red who batted them angrily but they seized his weapon and tied him up. As they were marching him out the door the pirate who Red had fought earlier stopped them.

"Wait a second," and with a wink at Red he said. "His cape is torn, before you lock him up, get him kitted out in one of our spare suits."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chocolat didn't know what was worse. The fact that she had lost contact with Red or the fact that she didn't know what she was going to do about it. She had watched as 'The Red Destroyer' soared into the sky and she didn't need anyone to tell her that Red had been captured. She could have fired up the ship and went after them but then what? She had never been much of a fan of combat, mechanics were more her thing. That was always Red's job. Even when they were little kids it had always been him protecting her. Her job was to stop him going too far. Red had completed so many quests and defeated so many bad guys that she had never prepared herself for if something went wrong. Her eyes began to water, suddenly the Asmodeus seemed like the loneliest place in the world. She dabbed her eyes with her long pink hair.

"I can't just sit here and cry…" she muttered. "I've got to find a way to save Red."

She fired up the engine of the Asmodeus and thrust the ship straight into the air. She had to dodge and manoeuvre people taking part in Air Races but that was easy work to what she would have to do next.

Instead of following the pirate ship she veered off to the left. If she was going to rescue Red then she was going to need help. She pushed down hard on the accelerator and blasted off full pelt towards Airdale. It didn't take her long to reach the picturesque green island that was Airedale. She landed in haste and ran up the port towards the main street. Opposite the Quest Broker Quebec was standing as always leaning on his walking stick and grinning mischievously. His white and black mane of hair was blowing slightly in the wind.

"Chocolat," he said when she approached him.

"Quebec, I don't have time to explain, something terrible has happened to Red!"

Quebec raised a thin black eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes and… I need your help to get him back. Seeing as you used to be special ops I couldn't think of anyone better."

Quebec paused, he hadn't been expecting this. He was hoping to have a quiet night in but he guessed rescuing the young hunter wouldn't be a bad alternative."

"What is the exact nature of the misfortune that has befallen Red?"

"Pirates…" Chocolat said and her face trembled with anger.

* * *

><p>"…Pirates," Red mumbled.<p>

He had been trying and failing to relinquish himself from his chains for half an hour but still no luck. What was worse is that they took his usual blue and red attire and forced him into one of their horrid crimson suits. He gritted his teeth in anger.

"How are you going to get yourself out of this one, Red?" He had never felt this hopeless in his life. He had never failed before, for him failure wasn't even an option. He started to tug even harder at the chains but all he was doing was tiring himself out.

* * *

><p>"And that's when I lost contact," Chocolat said sadly, while getting Quebec, Beluga and Elh up to date.<p>

"Idiot…" Beluga said coldly, his red eyes were focusing so intently that Chocolat hadn't seen him blink in over a minute.

"That's horrible!" Elh gasped. "Who knows what the pirates are doing to him?"

"What you should be worrying about is how he managed to fail in the first place," Beluga said.

"Beluga…" Elh touched his arm to calm him.

"We'll ask him when we find him," Quebec said. "Let's not waste anymore time chatting."

Tracking down the pirates was quite and easy affair. The journey to them was quite silent. Beluga was sitting in the cabin his mass of white hair resting on the sofa. He would have seemed asleep if his red eyes were not open. Elh did not feel like chatting as she was worrying about Red. Quebec had wondered off to explore the ship on his own. Chocolat didn't like the mournful mood of the ship, she was used to being chatty and bubbly and the mood was just making her more worried. She was grateful when they reached the Red Destroyer even though the hardest part was yet to come.

The pirates of the Red Destroyer were quite oblivious to the unwelcome visitors quietly boarding their ship. They weren't expecting any other attacks seeing as they'd already caught the hunter and so had settled in their beds or were stuffing their faces in the kitchen. They had even turned off their alarm systems so that they couldn't be set off by accident resulting in an ear pummelling noise. Their lack of security meant that Beluga had no problem riding along the corridors on his robot Salamander, Elh and Quebec were not far behind.

"Chocolat, we're in," Elh said over the comm network.

"Right, I've got the blue prints of the ship on the Asmodeus screen. Find the nearest stairs and make your way downwards." Chocolat's voice said.

Elh nodded and pointed to a stairs that led deep into the ship. Beluga nodded and began to descend. It was a long way down and Elh counted no less than 50 steps. Quebec was huffing and puffing when he got to the bottom. Sucking in great gasps of air as if each breath might be his last.

Beluga and Elh stared at him inquiringly.

"I'm not as young as I used to be," he said defensively. "Come on, let's find Red."

As they progressed forward they realised that the base of the ship contained a corridor with cells on either side. They were all empty except for one where a young caninu was tied to the wall half-heartedly tugging on his chains. He had long brown hair and goggles resting on his head. Everything pointed to him being Red except for the strange shiny suit he was wearing.

"Red?" Elh said uncertainly, pressing her face against the bars.

The caninu boy looked up and smiled and Elh recognised the determined grin straight away.

"I was just about to break free but it's great you guys came." Red said grinning.

"Sure…" Beluga muttered. "Stand back."

Elh moved away from the bars as Beluga shot the cells smashing them to bits instantly.

"They would have heard that…" Quebec said. "Let's depart."

"No way," Red said as Beluga's robot Salamander snapped off his chains. "I'm not walking around in these clothes. We need to find my clothes and we need to find Dahak."

"Forget your clothes…" Beluga said coldly.

"I'm sure you can get new ones." Elh said.

Red closed his eyes stubbornly and shook his head.

"Fine, Dahak will be worth looking for but once we find Dahak we're going," Quebec growled impatiently. "Let's go."

They searched the base of the ship and found nothing so they ascended only to find Dinkle and three other sky pirates waiting for them at the top of the stairs.

"What do we have here?" Dinkle said.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Where is my robot and my clothes?" Red said gritting his teeth.

"I asked you a question first," said Dinkle.

"These are my friends. Now were is my robot."

"Why would I tell you that?" Dinkle snapped. "Get back to your cell."

"I'm afraid that won't be happening." Quebec said.

Beluga nodded and prepared to attack.

"If it is a fight you want then it is a fight you will get!"

Dinkle charged his robot forward to attack Beluga's Salamander who shot a blast from one of its cannons in response. Dinkle dodged but it blew up one of the other pirates who jumped out of his robot wailing in pain.

Salamander charged into Dinkle's robot knocking it into the wall so hard that one of it's guns broke off in the process. Elh closed her eyes and began to concentrate. The symbols on her forward began to flash bright blue when she opened them suddenly a whirlwind of air swept up the other pirates and threw them down the stairs that lead to the base of the ship. Red felt a bit left out but without his weapon or his robot there wasn't much he could do to help in the fight. Dinkle's robot had pinned Salamander and was repeatedly smashing it's metal frame into the floor.

"Looks like Beluga needs a bit of help Elh," Quebec suggested.

Elh nodded and closed her eyes once more summoning another whirlwind which knocked Dinkle's robot off of Salamander and down the stairs. They heard a huge bang as it reached the bottom. Beluga nodded his thanks but Elh had collapsed with the strain of using her powers.

"Elh?" Red said rushing to her side.

He shook her gently but there was no response. He lifted her up gently and placed her on his shoulders.

"She needs rest urgently," Red said.

"What about your robot?" Quebec said.

"It can't be far, Chocolat has the blue prints." Beluga said.

"Chocolat!" Quebec said over the comm network. "Is there anyplace on the blue prints that suggest a storage room?"

"Umm let me take a look… … … yes! Make your way to the second level and keep heading right. There is a storage room there. Is Red ok? Is he with you?"

Quebec cast a glance over to Red and smiled. "He doesn't seem to be in any harm but I'm a bit worried about what he's wearing though."

"Huh?" Chocolat said puzzled.

"I'll explain later," Quebec said chuckling at Red's angry glare.

When they made their way to the second level they saw a sign that said 'Storage Room' and went inside. Red was relieved to find Dahak in the far left corner with his clothes and weapon. He got dressed quickly and climbed onto Dahak.

"Let's go." He said.

Red was glad to be back on the Asmodeus but embittered that he had failed his quest. When they got back Chocolat had run into his arms and he had to physically prise her off.

"I'm fine, little sis" Red said slightly embarrassed. "Not sure about Elh though, she put up a hell of a fight."

"Poor Elh," Chocolat whispered. "Put her in the cabin to rest and I'll make some tea and croissants."

"Let's fly back to Airedale while your at it, I need some affairs taken care of." Quebec said.

"Of course and thanks for saving my big brother," Chocolat said.

"It was nothing," Quebec said shrugging.

After their tea and croissants Chocolat flew back to Airedale where Quebec left to go sort out some things.

"I should be going as well," Beluga said quietly. "Take care of Elh." And without another word he had disappeared as well.

"Beluga's quite the social guy," Red said sarcastically.

Chocolat gave him a slap on the arm "You should be more grateful, he saved you."

"That's true, I just wished he wasn't so moody all the time." Red shrugged. "Anyway, what are we going to do about this quest."

"After what you told me about the girl purposefully alerting the pirates I think that farther of hers has a lot of explaining to do." Chocolat said.

"He does, it doesn't make sense why she would do that, unless…" Red said trailing off.

"Unless what?"

"Unless she didn't want to be saved."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Red bit into his croissant with ferocity causing flaky crumbs to fall into his lap. Dusting them off gingerly he took another bite. The pink haired dog girl, Chocolat, was watching him and patiently waiting for him to finish. When he did she smiled gingerly and he grinned back throwing up a thumb up.

"I see you've got quite an appetite," she giggled.

"Let's just say those sky pirates are not the best cooks," Red said grinning back. "Thanks for coming to save me."

"It was nothing," Chocolat said shyly. "I didn't do anything really, it was all Quebec, Elh and Beluga."

"Don't be so modest. I was in a tight fix then. All because of that screaming girl."

"It doesn't make any sense," Chocolat furrowed her brow.

"That's not the only weird thing, the sky pirates had books on how to tell the girl of your dreams that you love her."

"Oh ha ha, Red."

"I'm being serious, I swear on my tail," Red raised his hands in a gesture of innocence.

"Well let's not waste any more time! The father obviously knows more about this than he is letting on."

"I'm coming with you."

Red and Chocolat turned to the cabin door to see a greyish-white haired felineko standing in the doorway. Her brown eyes burned with determination but there were tired lines in her fur and her pointed ears were drooped.

"No way," Red said raising a paw.

"He's right, Elh, you should rest," Chocolat said worriedly.

Elh shook her head. "I'm fully rested now and I want to help. It's not like we're going on a fighting mission. We're just going to be talking to someone"

"I suppose…" Red said, his resolve already weakening. "Ok, seeing as we're only taking a trip to Shetland I suppose not much can happen."

The familiar streets of the mining island of Shetland were busy as usual. The few miners who recognised Red from his previous visits to the island waved at him as he stomped pass them in his robot, Dahak. One caninu with locks of reddish brown hair kept staring at them and followed them from afar unnoticed by Red. Flo leaned over her desk at the Quest Broker to shake a friendly paw at him as he and Elh made their way to Pickaxe street. Red spotted the miner he was looking for sitting down with several empty ale glasses on the table. The chubby caninu had his head lowered and he barely looked up when Red and Elh joined him at the table.

Red waited patiently for a few moments but when he realised the miner was not going to speak he cleared his throat. The miner looked up slowly and smiled when he saw it was Red.

"Have you found her? Have you found my daughter?" He gabbled excitedly, ale dripping down his chin.

"No… but I have seen her and by my tail I can assure you she is safe," Red said smiling.

_And her vocal cords are in excellent condition too, _Red thought bitterly.

"That is at least good, but you said you would bring my daughter back," the miner said sadly.

"I will, I was captured by the pirates and had to abort the mission but I don't give up that easily," Red fished around in his pocket and casually slipped a bone into his mouth.

"Who is this?" The miner pointed at Elh. "Did you think you could replace my daughter with any old cute female?"

"I'm assisting, Red in getting your daughter back," Elh said through gritted teeth.

"Why have you come here then? Shouldn't you be trying again to get my daughter and perhaps not fail this time?"

"Steady on, the only reason we failed was because of your daughter," Red said. "When I told her I had come to rescue her she screamed and alerted the pirates that I was there. Why would she do something like that?"

The miner's eyes widened in anger and he picked up one of the empty glasses of ale before slamming it back down again.

"What are you accusing me of?" He roared.

"Huh?" Red said baffled. "I'm not accusing you of anything."

The miner ripped the bone out of Red's mouth and broke it in half with his bare hands before getting up abruptly.

"What the furballs!" Red exclaimed.

"You should be out there finding my daughter, not making up lies and accusing me of all sorts. My daughter didn't alert anyone! She wants to come home, so don't bother returning without her!" And with that the miner stormed off still clutching the two pieces of bones.

"Who pulled his fur?" Red said bitterly, climbing back onto Dahak.

"Strange… why is he so defensive?"

"I don't know but this quest is becoming more trouble than it's worth," Red said, sorely regretting betting all the money in a quiz on Basset.

As they made their way back to the Asmodeus, the caninu with the red hair, who had been following them, stopped them before they could climb aboard. He was a sneaky looking dog man with narrow eyes and a wide devilish grin. He was not wearing the usual mining gear that caninu's on Shetland usually wore but instead wore clothes more similar to a hunter or a sky pirate.

"You're looking for the miner's daughter, yes?"

"Uh huh, why?" Red said suspiciously.

"I have information that you might find… let's say… useful," the red haired caninu grinned even brighter.

"I'm all pointy ears."

"I'm afraid information such as this isn't free."

"Just tell me what you know!" Red snapped. "A girl's life is at stake!"

The caninu shook his head. "Do a favour for me and I will give you information that will make all become clear."

"No way!"

"Red, we've got no choice, this quest is like a maze, anything that will help us through it is quite valuable."

"I don't do favours for jerks," Red said stubbornly.

"We'll do it," Elh said.

"Waaaah?" Red stared at Elh incredulously.

"I'm glad you've got the sense to take up my offer. Now this is what you must do."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I can't…" Elh whispered.

"But you were the one who wanted to do a favour for the jerk." Red said.

They were on the island of Vizsla. The wondrous island was made of huge mushroom like plants with yellow tops. The houses of the people living there were intricately linked with the plant life and the air seemed to smell fresher there than it did on any other island. However, it was not the plants that had Elh paralyzed with fear. It was the bugs. She hated them with all her might and bugs on Vizsla were worse than most due to their ability to grow to gigantic sizes. Just thinking about the scary scarabee with its four golden eyes and its slimy red body were enough to make her shiver with fear.

"I can't…" Elh repeated.

"We've got to, think about that kidnapped girl and remember why we're doing this. I believe in you. Let's go!" Red said clenching his paw into a determined fist.

He charged forward into the dense area that was Shroomdandi. Elh followed behind him hesitantly, her fur trembling. When three giant bees raced their way towards them she yelped and dived behind Dahak. Red merely chuckled to himself as Dahak hurled one bee into the other knocking them both out cold.

"Maybe I'll just go back," Elh said in a small voice.

"Don't worry about it, they're just bugs. If you're really that scared stay behind Dahak. We'll just do what we have to do and then leave."

"Do you think that they're in here?"

"The Black Cat Gang are quite mischievous," Red shrugged. "They knew the seed was valuable and that it would grow great here which is probably why they took it from that red haired jerk."

They proceeded deeper into Shroomdandi, with Elh becoming more and more anxious. They soon came across three Felineko holding shovels and one of them clutching a golden round object in her paw. One of the cats, and the obvious leader, wrinkled her whiskers at Red and Elh as they approached. The shyest of the three cats took a few steps back and the youngest of the cat sisters bounded forward, her brown hair flopping across her face.

"What are you doing here?" The leader said, one eye scanning them furiously. "This is private, Black Cat Gang business."

"You tell them, Alicia!" The youngest said nodding.

"I see you're up to mischief again," Red said. "You've been accused of stealing that seed you're holding."

"I didn't steal it!" Alicia said boldly. "I just took it without asking."

"Well, I'm going to have to take it back to its rightful owner," Red took Dahak forward a few more steps.

"Nuh uh, we're going to plant the seed and get all the gold fruit that it bears." The youngest of the sisters said excitedly.

"Don't tell them our plans, Flare!" Alicia snapped. "You're too late anyway, the hole is already prepared."

"Don't make me get Waffle," Red said with a grin.

"So? You can get anyone you like!" Alicia said blushing.

"What's wrong with your face?" The shy felineko said timidly.

"Nothing!" Alicia snapped and with that she chucked the golden seed down into the freshly dug hole.

"Hey!" Red barked. "I need that!"

"Too bad!" Alicia said triumphantly, filling the hole back up quickly.

The Black Cat gang sisters huddled round the covered hole expectantly. When nothing happened for several minutes Alicia tapped her foot impatiently.

"What exactly is supposed to happen?" Red asked.

"It's meant to grow a tree that bears solid gold as fruit!" Flare said. "That's what red haired Kaptain said."

"That no good pup tricked us!" Alicia screeched. "He tried to sell us the seed for twenty thousand gold coins."

"But that was too expensive so we decided to take it instead!" Flare said.

"We were conned," The shy sister whispered.

"So if it doesn't grow a gold bearing plant, what does it do?"

As if in the way of answer the ground began to shake violently and then a huge slimy green limb burst through the ground followed by a hairy head with gnashing teeth.

"I don't think it was a seed," Red said gritting his teeth. "It was an insect egg."

The gigantic bug burst the rest of its body through the ground with a crash. The Black Cat gang scattered and Elh merely stood rooted to the ground. The bug swept her off of her feet and brought her towards its sharp teeth.

"You put her down!" Red cried charging forward.

Dahak grabbed one of the bug's huge limbs so that it lost its balance. It let Elh go and she fell downwards, she was just about to hit the ground when one of Dahak's long metallic arms swept across and grabbed her before laying her down gently. The bug was enraged by losing its meal and shot a huge gob of slime. Red manoeuvred Dahak out of the way easily, enraging the creature further. It swung a limb down to smash Red and his robot to bits but Red dodged again and the bug got stuck in the ground. Red used this chance to make Dahak pick the bug up and swing it around before throwing it into the bark of one of the giant plants. The creature remained stunned for a bit before getting up and shooting another ball of slime at Dahak who caught it expertly and hurled it at the creature's eyes. The bug screamed in agony before clumsily trotting away in defeat.

"Teach you to mess with me," Red grinned. "Are you alright Elh? Elh…"

Elh didn't answer, she lay motionless on the ground. Red jumped off of Dahak and ran to her side, he cradled her grey haired head in his arms.

"It's ok Elh, the monster is gone." Red whispered to an unconscious Elh. "Hey Chocolat, can I get some help, Elh's not looking too good" He said over the comm. Network.

"I'm coming!" said Chocolat's voice in his ear.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Red watched as Elh slept, her chest raising and falling to the gentle hums of the Asmodeus's engines. She seemed peaceful and her soft white fur was pristine. Red sat on the edge of her bed and put her small paw into his gloved fist.

"I should have let you go back," he said with a sigh. "You were already sick from using your powers and it didn't help you been surrounded by all of those bugs. I'm meant to be protecting you, yet you almost died yesterday. When that bug had you in its grip… my mind just stopped. I should have insisted that you stay on the ship but I guess… I always feel better with you by my side. I'm sorry…"

Red bowed his brown head, the bone he was biting almost slid from his mouth to the floor.

"… don't get down, I'm fine." Elh murmured sleepily.

"Whaaa?" Red sprang up. "You were awake?"

"Uh huh," Elh giggled, sitting upright. "Don't get all embarrassed, I thought what you said was sweet."

"Just saying the truth," Red shrugged. "You get back to sleep. I'm going to see the red-haired Kaptain, he's got a lot of explaining to do."

"Good luck, I know you'll figure this out Red, you always do," Elh tilted her furry head and grinned up at him.

"Thanks… I'll see you later…" and with that Red left Elh's room and went to the cabin.

The mining in Shetland had picked up pace. Minerals were being brought from the mines to ships with haste and the port was much busier than it usually was but Red had no trouble spotting Kaptain. He was slouched against the Quest Broker building chatting to Flo whose face told Red that she wasn't that impressed with what he was saying. Red approached quickly; Dahak clinking down the street towards them.

"Just one drink on Pickaxe Street tonight, that's all I ask."

"No, I'll be working."

"Surely, a beautiful feline like yourself needs a break."

"Not with you she doesn't!"

"I don't think she's interested," Red interjected. "I am though."

"You're… interested?" Kaptain's face drained of all emotion.

"Not like that!" Red snapped. "I want to know why you sent me on a wild kitty chase after the Black Cat Gang, when you knew that it wasn't a valuable seed but an insect egg."

Kaptain opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again.

"Speak up! Thanks to you my friend Elh almost got killed."

"Ok, ok, I'll explain. The seed wasn't valuable at all. It was just a trick to get back at the Black Cat Gang. They're always troubling me and annoying me so I thought I would get one up on them. So in their presence I kept boasting about a seed that I had that grew a gold bearing plant and how it needed to be planted in Vizsla. I pretended to try to sell it to them knowing they would not buy it but steal it instead. I have a friend from Vizsla and he gave me an insect egg so I painted it gold and just waited for the Black Cat Gang to steal it."

"You're such a fool, you know how dangerous that was?" Red growled. "And why did you send me after them if it was all a set up?"

"Well… don't tell them I said this… but I started to grow uneasy about three kitties being chomped to bits by a huge bug. So when I saw you come to Shetland I thought I would get you to go after them and make sure they were alright by offering you information on the miner's kidnapped daughter."

"So there was no information then?"

"No, no, there is!"

"Well?"

"Are they safe? The Black Cat Gang?"

"Yes, no thanks to you," Red snapped. "Now give me your information before another person gets put in danger because of you."

"You'll like this," the red haired caninu said, grinning mischievously. "I was in the employ of the daughter."

_She employed this idiot, that's weird, not that it's any weirder than screaming your head off when you're about to be rescued, _Red thought.

"What did she employ you to do?"

"To be a deliveryman, she would get me to deliver letters to a captain of a ship. The captain of a sky pirate ship I believe. I thought this strange myself and was tempted to have a peak at the letters but she said if I tampered with them in any way the captain wouldn't be best pleased so I thought better of it. Also, the pirate would give me back letters to give to her."

"Hmm," Red pondered. "Sending letters to a sky pirate… kidnapped by sky pirates… love books in a fierce pirates' library. Thanks, Kaptain and stay out of trouble."

Back at the Asmodeus, Red recalled all the information he had found out to Chocolat and Elh who listened carefully. They were eating croissants and sipping hot chocolate drinks, their fur getting matted around their mouths.

"It's obvious," Chocolat said slurping her hot chocolate.

"What is?" Red said blankly.

"You really don't know anything about romance, do you Red," and she glanced knowingly at Elh who blushed.

"Hey, I have loads of girls banging down my door, Toffee, Princess Theria, Alicia." Red huffed.

"Red, Red, Red, my brother," Chocolat said, shaking her head. "You have a lot to learn."

"Hey! We're not talking about me anyway, what is it that's obvious?"

"They're in love," Elh said wistfully.

"She must have met this sky pirate, they fell in love, wrote letters to each other and then he whisked her away on his ship…" Chocolat whispered, her eyes glazing. "How romantic…"

"How romantic?" Red said incredulously. "He's kidnapped her away from her father, who is devastated. They could have at least let him know."

"Maybe they did," Chocolat finished the rest of her drink and placed the cup down. "We've already identified that the father is hiding something."

"There's only one way to find out," Red said grinning determinedly. "We're going to have to get back on the Red Destroyer and confront them. We've been running around in circles with this quest for far too long."

"Take Beluga with you, I don't want you to get captured again." Chocolat said.

"Good idea," Red said grinning. "I'll call him up and then it's off to find us some sky pirates."

Chocolat piloted the Asmodeus to meet Beluga on one of Shepherd Republic's uninhabited islands. His huge robot, Salamander, was there also. Its terrifying arms armed with revolver canons were pointed outwards. Beluga was standing still, his red cape was blowing delicately in the wind along with spiky white hair. He didn't move until the Asmodeus docked, climbing onto Salamander and navigating on board the ship. When he got to the cabin his eyes flickered over Elh for a moment before turning to Red who grinned at him happily.

"Thanks for agreeing to help," Red said.

"It was simple," Beluga responded.

"Sorry? I don't follow…" Red mumbled baffled.

"It was simple. I asked you to take care of her but instead you put her in a worse situation than before." Beluga said coldly.

"Whaaa? Hold on a second, how did you—"

"Do you take me for a fool?" Beluga said, his voice as cold and hard as the stone pillars on Samoyede.

"Beluga…" Elh mumbled.

"I didn't mean for her to get hurt… believe me I'm more angry with myself than you could ever be with me." Red said through gritted teeth.

"I don't know, I could try," Beluga marched forward so that he was inches away from Red's face.

"Guys, this is not the time, we've got a quest to solve," Chocolat said firmly, getting in between them and gently pushing them apart.

"Chocolat's right," Red headed for the cabin door. "We've got a job to do, let's find these pirates."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Red sucked in his breath when he stepped off the ship and onto the island of Basset. He was back in the place that had gotten him into this sorry mess in the first place. The Red Destroyer was parked at the dock as Chocolat had seen on the Asmodeus Scanner.

_But what were the pirates doing there?_

"We should go without delay," Beluga said, dragging Red from his thoughts.

"I know... it's time we wrapped up this quest... but we have to be careful. Pirates are hardly ever up to any good and I don't want anyone in Basset getting hurt."

"No of course not," Beluga said.

They trailed through the wooden Basset streets, the orange sky lightening their way. It didn't matter how many times Red came to Basset he couldn't help being stunned into silence by the sheer beauty of a habitation comprising of ancient derelict ships. The ships had magnificent bodies of timber towering into the sky almost blending in with the fiercely orange horizon. As they walked Red pondered how something as terrible as war could produce something so beautiful but when they reached the fishing path he saw a sight that brought a grimace to his face. A splatter of shiny red suits surrounded the dock, most of whom were riding robots. Red spotted Dinkle among the rabble who was using his robot to spin Collie into a rope. The old Caninu was being spun so fast his tattered straw hat fell to the wooden boardwalk. When Dinkle spotted Red he grinned horribly, chucking Collie to the side as if he were a rag doll.

"I see you've come back for another round," he roared.

"I see you're still wearing those ugly suits," Red replied quickly.

"Enough."

A calm but menacing voice tore through Red and Dinkle's chat. A fierce felineko stepped forward from the mass of pirates. His face was a mess of tangled yellow fur and his brown mane had been styled into dreadlocks. However, it was his robot that had Red stunned. It was a beautiful machine painted completely in gold and shaped in the style of a bird. Its wings were as sharp as blades but it was the beak that was the most terrifying as Red could not discern what would come out of it.

"That's quite a mech you've got there," Red said before he could stop himself.

The felineko merely shrugged in response. "What do you want with us?"

"Captain Solva, sir!" Dinkle interjected before Red could speak. "It's that trouble making hunter who attacked the ship!"

"Hey, don't make me out to be the bad guy. You've kidnapped a poor miner's daughter and charged an extortionate ransom."

"The ransom was meant to be unpayable..." the captain said quietly. "She is to remain here with me forever. I... I love her and she loves me."

_So Chocolat was right, it had been love letters the miner's daughter had been sending to the pirate. _Red thought to himself.

"Even so, snatching the girl from her father wasn't right. That miner is a good man. He deserved better."

"A good man? Are you sure about that?" Solva said and something about his tone was unnerving.

"He's obviously a better man than you," Beluga said frostily. "You pillage other people's ships and hurt civilians." Beluga nodded at a very tied up Collie who was watching the event with wide eyes.

The captain looked around him, his eyes staring at the derelict ships in disgust.

"I grew up here, you know—"

"We don't have time for your life story," Red said cuttingly.

"Of course me and my father scavenged the derelict boats and ships like everyone else. Everyday we scavenged and then sold on and of course it kept food on the table but it was never going to get me something like this." Solva tapped his robot lightly. "I'm a determined person, hunter. Don't blame me if I didn't want to stay on this rotting waste of an island when the skies are lined with gold..."

"Very poetic," Red said impatiently. "But I'm afraid I'm bound by a different code than greed and that code decrees that I carry out my quests as best as I can, so if you'll hand over the miner's daughter maybe you'll escape with just a scratch."

"You think you can defeat me with that tiny little long armed toaster and a metal rod on roller skates?" The captain said, bemused.

"Enough talk." Beluga surged backward in his Salamander and released shots from its cannons.

The captain and his robot flew into the sky, the robot's golden wings spinning like a top before diving down into Salamander. There was a horrible sound as the spinning metal connected with Salamander's hard shell. Beluga winced as he was thrown backwards. He peered at his mech's chest to see quite a deep slice in the metal.

"My turn," Red grinned and dashed forward grabbing the golden mech and hurling it into the ground.

"Yes, I've heard about how you like to toss about other people's robots but know this, hunter, I'm not letting anything separate me from my love. _Nothing_!" the gold mech began to spin viscously once again.

Red reigned Dahak back as the captain hurtled towards him, the spinning wings only narrowly missing Dahak's metal skin.

"Well nothing is going to stop me from completing this quest," Dahak grabbed the captain's robot once again and began flinging it around by its shiny wing.

"Don't you know anything else, hunter? Your techniques are becoming tiresome!" Solva screamed and as if activated by sound the beak of his robot began to glow a devastating blue.

Red was too slow to react and the blue beam shot Dahak at point blank spinning the mech right through one of the derelict ships. Red grimaced as he inspected the damage of his robot. The captain hurled forward to attack once again but was shot off course by Salamander's revolver cannon.

"Thanks," Red grinned through his pain.

Beluga nodded as Salamander whizzed across the ground firing non-stop at the captain. Solva tried to get the wings of his mech to spin once again but Salamander rammed it to the ground. Red charged forward and helped pin the robot down.

"Where is the girl?" Red roared but the captain merely laughed.

"Answer him," Salamander aimed one of its canons.

"She'll be here soon enough but she won't go with you," the captain laughed.

"Maybe I would be more sympathetic if you had acted like a dog and not a pup snatching girls from they're families." Red said angrily.

"There is so much that you don't understand, hunter. I only did what was requested by me..." the captain said so quietly that Red barely heard him.

"Requested by who? The miner's daughter?" Red said urgently.

"Maybe you should go back to the miner and speak to him."

"No," Red said with gritted teeth. "I'm not running back and forth anymore. You tell me what's going on and maybe I won't hang you by your tail. Was it the miner's daughter who asked you to kidnap her?"

"No."

Red and Beluga spun around to see a fair haired caninu with big blue eyes. There were droplets of tears falling rolling down her face and matting her fur.

"It was my father."


End file.
